The Wallace Foundation has awarded $2 million each to the Brooklyn, New York, and Queens Borough Public Library systems to support and expand after-school programs. The gift was made in response to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s $36-million Emergency Campaign launched in May to seek private-sector help for city facilities.
“Since the 19th century, New York City’s three library systems have relied on both public and private funding to operate,” Bloomberg said December 5 during his weekly radio show. “The Wallace Foundation’s generous gift to the Emergency Campaign will help ensure that our city’s 212 wonderful libraries remain our city’s information gateways and enable them to continue their vital role in educating and informing all New Yorkers, especially our city’s youth.”
The foundation also granted $897,000 to the Urban Libraries Council to support its Learning in Libraries program, one of the goals of which is to increase coordination between the three library systems by helping them develop the ability to collect data and assess the impact of their programs.
The Wallace Foundation was formed in 2003 by the merger of two family philanthropies, the DeWitt Wallace–Reader’s Digest Fund and the Lila Wallace–Reader’s Digest Fund.
Posted December 12, 2003.